Retirement: Starting Over

Achaea from this character perspective has become stale, but even brand new characters I make still the excitement I am addicted to. 

So retirement seems like the right choice. 

The question is "How would you spend 15K Retirement Value if you had the chance? What would you do to guarantee you find excitement in your new life?"

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Comments

  • edited February 2017
    As a retiree who once thought the grass looked greener.. don't do it. It's pointless and expensive.

    At the very least wait for Starmourn.
  • I'm happy with the choice I made to retire. My experience playing Aerei has been less stressful and more fun, even though I enjoyed my previous characters. Part of it has to do with my RL getting better though/working through some things. How you feel OOCly will definitely make a difference. I took a break before starting a new character.

    I had nowhere near 15k credits though. I'd definitely go for L2 or L3 hunting arties (bracelets, sip ring, endurance ring, crit pendant, belt), eagles' wings, class arties (bow, sword, blackjack, lash, whatever), artie pipes, and RP or convenience arties if I had anything left over. For me I love the mail whistle and anvil the most, but the staff of illusions is pretty badass.
  • Aereidhna said:
    I'm happy with the choice I made to retire. My experience playing Aerei has been less stressful and more fun, even though I enjoyed my previous characters. Part of it has to do with my RL getting better though/working through some things. How you feel OOCly will definitely make a difference. I took a break before starting a new character.

    I had nowhere near 15k credits though. I'd definitely go for L2 or L3 hunting arties (bracelets, sip ring, endurance ring, crit pendant, belt), eagles' wings, class arties (bow, sword, blackjack, lash, whatever), artie pipes, and RP or convenience arties if I had anything left over. For me I love the mail whistle and anvil the most, but the staff of illusions is pretty badass.
    And yet you are never anybody who is not amazingly lovable, and totally loved by Prythe!

    - To love another person is to see the face of G/d
    - Let me get my hat and my knife
    - It's your apple, take a bite
    - Don't dream it ... be it


  • Aww, somebody's got a crush!

  • Borran said:
    Aww, somebody's got a crush!
    Over the years we have become "Real life friends" - one of  many I have made from playing Achaea. :) 

    - To love another person is to see the face of G/d
    - Let me get my hat and my knife
    - It's your apple, take a bite
    - Don't dream it ... be it


  • edited February 2017
    Aerek said:
    I don't know about that. I feel that every character has a finite character arc, and if you feel that you've reached the end of yours, starting fresh with a new direction, new personality, and blank slate could be a ticket back to that magic. (Especially since he says he does enjoy new characters he creates more.)

    However, I would be slow to transfer retirement credits to a new character. You want to be sure the new character is one that will stick, and fair or not, being an instant "super-noob" can impact other characters'/players' perceptions and interactions with you. Take some time to establish yourself; reach level 80, reach HR3 or 5, and then see about spending those 15k ret-creds.
    I only wish my biggest investments weren't without credit value or valued way below what they should be. It will be hell to get another deathcape.

  • @Aerek Oh, I quoted you but didn't say what I wanted to.  Need coffee...

    I think that's probably the issue. Years of character development starts building a personality lens through which you live in the world. So I feel railroaded into playing the game a certain way based on how the character would act.  

    I could take away the lens and start doing things another way,  but it deteriorates who the character is.  I made this mistake before and I ended up searching for an identity that fit the character I was playing,  only to find him back in exactly the same place he was a year prior. Only with a stain on his reputation for being a house/class-jumper.

    That being said, yesterday's Crusade was really exciting and I enjoyed it thoroughly, so they're nasty be life in this old dog yet!

  • Borran said:
    @Aerek Oh, I quoted you but didn't say what I wanted to.  Need coffee...

    I think that's probably the issue. Years of character development starts building a personality lens through which you live in the world. So I feel railroaded into playing the game a certain way based on how the character would act.  

    I could take away the lens and start doing things another way,  but it deteriorates who the character is.  I made this mistake before and I ended up searching for an identity that fit the character I was playing,  only to find him back in exactly the same place he was a year prior. Only with a stain on his reputation for being a house/class-jumper.

    That being said, yesterday's Crusade was really exciting and I enjoyed it thoroughly, so they're nasty be life in this old dog yet!

    Class jumping is less of an issue nowadays.  But, as long as where you are, you give it your 100%, no one should bitch.  Look at @Cooper.  The dude has been Ashtani, Shallamese, Mhaldorian, and who knows what else (well, he would).  But while he is there, he uses it to grow.  If that growth moves him somewhere else, so be it.

    I really think there is less stigma nowadays to city/house jumping compared to previously.  Now it seems to be more about whether you're an asshole or not. Like, when you leave a house/city/org, do you "LOLZ I took your stuff", or do you just leave? Outside of that, everyone will give you a shot, usually.

  • Borran said:
    Aww, somebody's got a crush!
    Oh, and what is another part of the story is that her second character was one I really grew to adore *before* I knew it was her or that she was back playing Achaea.

    She really just does not know how to be other than to shine as a loving, kind, helpful, person!

    - To love another person is to see the face of G/d
    - Let me get my hat and my knife
    - It's your apple, take a bite
    - Don't dream it ... be it


  • So... after the Occultist House reluctantly saved Ashtan.. what became of them? Where is the closest thing to their House nowadays?

  • KyrraKyrra Australia
    Borran said:
    So... after the Occultist House reluctantly saved Ashtan.. what became of them? Where is the closest thing to their House nowadays?
    Probably the Savants of the Wheel.
    (D.M.A.): Cooper says, "Kyrra is either the most innocent person in the world, or the girl who uses the most innuendo seemingly unintentionally but really on purpose."

  • Borran said:
    So... after the Occultist House reluctantly saved Ashtan.. what became of them? Where is the closest thing to their House nowadays?
    From memory, it was more a "let GodzillaGlaaki and MothraGolgotha fight" scenario, but to answer your question I would say probably the Savants? You might talk with a couple of ex-Occultists to see if they preserved any of their stuff in a clan or similar, too, as some other Houses did in other cities.
    - (Eleusis): Ellodin says, "The Fissure of Echoes is Sarathai's happy place."
    - With sharp, crackling tones, Kyrra tells you, "The ladies must love you immensely."
    - (Eleusian Ranger Techs): Savira says, "Most of the hard stuff seem to have this built in code like: If adventurer_hitting_me = "Sarathai" then send("terminate and selfdestruct")."
    - Makarios says, "Serve well and perish."
    - Xaden says, "Xaden confirmed scrub 2017."



  • @Blujixapug went dormant and that was that, no recovering from that setback.
  • Aereidhna said:
    I'm happy with the choice I made to retire. My experience playing Aerei has been less stressful and more fun, even though I enjoyed my previous characters. Part of it has to do with my RL getting better though/working through some things. How you feel OOCly will definitely make a difference. I took a break before starting a new character.

    I had nowhere near 15k credits though. I'd definitely go for L2 or L3 hunting arties (bracelets, sip ring, endurance ring, crit pendant, belt), eagles' wings, class arties (bow, sword, blackjack, lash, whatever), artie pipes, and RP or convenience arties if I had anything left over. For me I love the mail whistle and anvil the most, but the staff of illusions is pretty badass.

    Erm, retirement wasn't a thing until 33 IC years ago. You're 71 :P
  • edited February 2017
    Camroth said:
    Shut the front door, somebody fact checked something on the internet.
    Not very well. She's actually 77, and retirement has only been a thing for 32 IC years (and two months, four days).
  • To be fair, she never said this character was the retirement character. Just that she enjoys this character and does not regret retiring.

  • To be fair, I have only had a few minor regrets about retiring; however, that does not mean that I regret the decision as a whole. It was the right decision for the time for me both on an in game and out of character level. I believe it also should come to "Are you really ready to give up your current characters for good?". If you are not, then I would recommend simply putting your main character dormant and just alting or even breaking entirely from Achaea. Once you entire the retiring confirm command, that's it. 

    I think it is wise though to take sometime to get a feel for the new character such as advancing in the House and experience. Just because you have 15k credits doesn't mean they have to be spent all at once (but keep in mind you will only have 30 days to spend them on whatever character you want to stick with) What I did was create multiple characters and spent a few hours on each of them and in the end I decided on the one that I was having the most fun on and the personality that developed the furthest. I literally had no plan as to where I would end up. In fact, I am still not making hardcore plans, I am simply just playing the game and whatever comes my character's way, comes her way. It is all about enjoyment. 

    I really would though recommend taking some time to really think about it and whether or not retiring is the right choice for you at this time. 

  • To answer Borran's question, I had the chance, took it and here is what I did to ensure excitement on a new character.

    I had about 17,000 CR to play with when I retired, and decided to go to the city I knew the least about, and play a class I've never tried. Granted the renaissance really helped because it was kind of new to everyone as well. This made all the people, and city and all of that new, and really was like playing for the first time.

    Secondly the fact of artefact_powers made this actually possible from my perspective, because I didn't want to do the super_newb walking around with all of those artefacts, so I could still be new, play new and have all my toys.

    Retirement was really positive for me and I love my new guy, and it got me playing again. 
  • Heck I would retire my characters in other games...if the credits would be transfered to Asmo.

    I dont want to restart an experience. I'm way too settled in and frankly am beyond the stage of making a novice and pushing it up.

    I only ever made other characters in other games. I never knew how some could handle juggling more than 1 char in the same game. Seems exhausting.
  • AereidhnaAereidhna Dallas
    edited February 2017
    Aesgar said:
    Erm, retirement wasn't a thing until 33 IC years ago. You're 71 :P
    I retired a previous char that I had quit playing (along with a few alts) when the option came out so I was just speaking in general to starting over with a new character and going through the retirement process (making it impossible to return to old characters/letting go of them completely). I'm not doing anything fun with my retirement credits because I can't use them on Aereidhna, but if I had been able to, the arties I listed are what I would have prioritized. I'll try to be more clear next time.
  • edited February 2017
    At first,  it's exhilerating. You don't like the RP you are in? Jump to another character.  It's so easy! 

    Then you realize that you have to maintain both (all) their stuff, social connections, political clout, relationships.. 

    Then you realize you don't have enough time for both (all) and both start to suffer. You make a plan on how you can keep both maintained and follow it to a T.

    Log in, bash to X gold, deposit, talk to X, write a post, check logs, address issues, log off. Log in, bash to X gold, deposit... 

    And suddenly you're playing 2 characters who both were exciting in their own time and they are both empty husks of what they once we're.

    So you shelve one character and pick up another. You try to inject the life back into the husk of the character and you get a pulse. But bringing a character back to life is harder than just keeping one alive.  

    After a while you get the character back, but in the back of your mind,  you remember your other character(s). But nostalgia only allows you to remember them when they were at their prime. You always forget that right now they are a shell of their former self. 

    Tldr: The grass isn't always greener on the other side.  It's greener where you water it. 

  • What I've noticed about retirement is that I have a strong dislike to alting as a whole. There are some people who love to play different characters in different factions at the same time - but that just isn't for me. I started Magenta at a time when retirement wasn't an option and sorta built her up from the very ground. She got some lovely and awesome help (most notably from @Siduri, @Tesha and @Ada as well as @Quisse and @Aodfionn at a later point), but she sure didn't have 2000cr to start her up with arties.

    I retired my old character when I realised how much the entire scene had changed from the "old days", and how little I could accomplish with the old mindset, the old alliances, the old friendships. Most of the people I used to play with have "moved on" to other avenues (other games, other characters) or adapted to the new House/city system much better than I was able to with the old character. The very few people from my old faction that I still keep contact with (also in an OOC fashion) also find it rather difficult to adapt to the new system with their old characters, from what I see and hear.

    Personally, I don't find it enjoyable to play more than one character, and if you really want the character to succeed, you don't do her or him justice if it's an alt that gets maybe 5-10 hours a week of play time. Let's be honest - if you want to hold a city, House, or Order position, you will need to invest some serious time for the social networking and other accomplishments. Good roleplaying skills help, but you will need to donate the time for whatever it is you want to do. I have great respect for the people who do, and from what I hear, hardly anybody who does leadership in Achaea has the time or heart to alt seriously.
  • I can act like a different person for only so long before people go "Hey aren't you X."

    Then it all just goes downhill from there tbh.

    Frederich didn't have any retirement credits (because my last character is like 200cr away from the needed value), but he sort of just tumbled into a lot of the artefacts/goods that he has.  Good family (if small), lots of arties (Wheel & Globe shenanigans), alongside working my ass off for Dragon during the Great hunt... And so, so much more that made him into a nice character to play as.

    Hell, the event with the Tsol'teth helped me make a lot of relationships with folks (whether good, or bad) and I love that as a whole.  I don't think I'd be able to retire Frederich anytime soon.  Stop playing for a bit to get a breath of fresh air?  Certainly.  Real life's been a bit better (although I am still unemployed), but it's looking up.
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